New Blackboard tool helps grades participation in online discussions

Submitted by Jean Dimeo on November 15, 2017 - 3:00am

As reported by Inside Higher Ed[1], Blackboard plans to introduce a new feature in its learning management system later this year to help instructors grade students’ participation in online class discussions. The feature, called the “discussion forum recommended grade,” will use computer algorithms to analyze students’ posts in class discussion forums.

By using this new tool, instructors will be able to quickly see which students are participating online, said John Whitmer, learning analytics and research director at Blackboard. He stressed the tool is not an “autograder” but a “grading assistant” that will relieve instructors “of many tasks of evaluating the quantity of participation, so that they can focus their assessment on the deeper value and meaning in student work.”